12 Ideas On How To Spend Your Weekend In Egypt Differently

We are all bored from our day to day outings, we only hang out at cafes or at restaurants to eat, drink & smoke shisha, nothing else!
Here is a list of 12 things you can do over the weekend to experience Egypt differently.

Explore Old Cairo (Masr El-Adima)

This is where the remnants of old capitals of Egypt are. It includes Islamic, Coptic & Jewish art. Coptic Cairo and its many old churches and christian monuments are the main highlight, the most famous are the Hanging Church & the Roman Catholic Cemetery. Amr Ibn El-A’as Mosque is worth a visit and Ben Ezra Synagogue that is open to the public as well. End your day chilling out at Darb1718 offering a variety of activities and concerts for all taste buds.

Coptic Cemetery by Scott D. Haddow

Salah El-Din Citadel area

Explore Islamic Cairo at its best, start by parking near El-Hossein hospital, then take a walk all the way to Khan El-Khalili souq where you can shop after haggling with the vendors, visit El-Azhar mosque & El-Hossein as well, explore the old house of El-Seheimy, then stop for a fetir break at Fatatry El-Hussein, tea or cold hibiscus (3enab) at any of the cafes lying there (El-Fishawy is the most famous), or chill out at Zeinab Khatoun Cafe/Restaurant, before continuing to El-Moez Street one of the oldest streets in Egypt comprising Islamic hidden gems. You can finish your day at Naguib Mahfouz cafe, attending a Free Sufi dancing (Tanoura) show at Wekalet El-Ghouri (every saturday and wednesday at 8:30pm), or driving all the way to Salah El-Din Citadel before heading to El-Azhar Park. El-Azhar Park offers amazing views of Islamic Cairo, has many restaurants & cafes to choose from, and a concert hall “El-Genaina Theatre”.

Mohamed Ali Mosque at Salah El-Din Citadel by Omnia Mamdouh

The Great Pyramids of Giza & lunch at Felfela or Andrea

If you are Egyptian but never been to the Great Pyramids of Giza, you must be ashamed! People come from all over the world for a photo next to the Pyramids & the Sphinx. Avoid going there when it’s too sunny or too hot, enjoy walking around the Pyramids, or ride camels/horses to explore the area, don’t forget to drop a visit of the Sun Boat (known as Khufu Ship), finish your day enjoying lunch at Felfela El-Haram or Andrea El-Maryouteya.

Photo by Galal El-Missary

El-Sokhna

You can simply enjoy the sun, sea and a barbecue on the beach, or hire a boat, go fishing, swimming, snorkeling and get tanned. Ask your captain to cook you the fresh fish that you just fished, but if you didn’t get lucky don’t be shy to ask him to fish on your behalf. You can spend the whole day, or spend the day and night on the boat. If you are in for adventure you can start a scuba diving course.

Photo by Jacob Mee

El Fayoum Oasis

Only 1h15 minutes drive from Cairo offering a variety of activities; hiking, sand-boarding, off-roading and relaxing.
Pack your sandboards or join a sandboarding pre-arranged trip, surf on the nearest sand dune, then freshen up at Wady El-Rayan waterfalls, where you can enjoy a boat ride (note that it is quite busy over the weekend), head to Tunis village to buy pottery wares, or Youssef El-Sedik village to enjoy the scenery of blossomed flowers, next thing is hiking around Modawara Mountain and witnessing sunset on top of it. Camping overnight at the Whales Valley, hiking at break of dawn to see the reflections of the sun on the rock formations.

Rock formation at the Whales Valley by Tom Horton

El-Wahat El Bahareya trip

It’s a 4:30 hours drive from Cairo. Catch a bus from El-Bahr el a3zam street, then arrange a 4×4 ride to take you to El-Wahat El-Bahareya. Start by the Black Desert, and sandboard at the slippery sand dunes, then head to El-Hez Bedouin Village for lunch, explore the beauty of the Crystal Mountain at Agabat Area, the old and new white deserts, before enjoying a barbecue party under the clear skies of the desert. Accommodation could be in lodges, hotels or at campsites (huts or tents). The next morning enjoy a Bedouin breakfast; fetir, white cheese, freshly baked bread, foul, ta3meyah and tea before heading back to Cairo.

Enjoying the desert with Bedouins at night by Dietmar Temps

Paintball

is an outdoors activity better enjoyed in winter or when it’s not too hot or too sunny. Participants dress in semi water-proof overalls, and wear goggles to protect their eyes, they compete with each other using guns loaded with small gelatin balls containing water soluble dye, they put a strategy and make a plan to beat their opponents, they run, hide and crawl. It’s kind of physically demanding, and firing paint-balls at each other can be kind of hurtful, however it’s so much fun. You can try it at Adrenalin Park.

Photo by Daniel Riquelme

Pigging day out at Zamalek Island

Walk the streets of Zamalek & enjoy all sorts of food, park your car at any empty parking slot, then start walking all the way to 26th of July street, go for a Burger from Burger Factory 2012 the best burger in town, or a heavy Egyptian meal at the hippy Cairo Kitchen with refillable Sobia juice.
For dessert you cannot miss Cake Cafe’s apple & date tart served hot with caramel sauce and ice cream or their mouthwatering pecan pie, however if you are a chocolate person Batter Half’s Chocolate heaven is your best deal

A mouth-watering burger by Marshall Astor

Ras Sudr

is currently the Kite-surfing hub, learn to do it like a pro over the course of 2 consecutive weekends with Kiteloop Egypt Experience, or just enjoy what the Red Sea has to offer.

Photo by Konstatin Zamkov

Cycling or Running followed by a scrumptious breakfast

Currently the trend in Egypt is Health and Fitness which is something to be happy and proud of. Join a run with Cairo Runners every other friday, or a cycling ride with GBI Egypt, or go with your family & friends on a Friday or a Saturday morning, then treat yourself with a stomach-filling breakfast at one of the hottest spots in maadi Lucille’s specially the maadi scramble followed by pancakes, or Tutti Matti offering a breakfast open buffet, in zamalek go for Grizzly, Zooba or Left Bank. And in Heliopolis don’t think twice, head directly to Le Chantilly in Korba.

Photo by 350 .org

Day use in a Hotel

If you can afford it, that’s the easiest thing to do, call your favorite Hotel, book a day use, enjoy swimming at the pool, pamper yourself at the Spa and eat delicious food from your favorite restaurant.

Spa by Visit Finger Lakes

Platform & Nile taxi ride

Enjoy Breakfast, brunch or lunch at one of the restaurants/cafes overlooking the Nile River at the Platform, make sure to catch an adventurous Nile Taxi ride for half an hour or so to enjoy Sunset.

Nile View by Eddie Crutchley

Got any cool ideas in mind? Please share them with us in the comments below…

Yes Mona, it is available at Wadi El Dome in front of Porto Sukha. It is mainly for fishing, the yacht is good to spend time on it and there are suitable places for swimming, just tell them what you want to do. You can rent it for 12hours and its multipliers 24, 36 or 48hours.

Red Sea have two good yachts there called Hayat and Gannat their mobile number is +2 0100 1769412.

@Mona , it is better to make such trips in better places, I recommend to you Hurghada ; much more programs to choose from, much more beautiful places to enjoy the Sea via swimming, snorkeling and diving, and of course you can enjoy exceptional stay or day-use experience in a Hotel. alot of discounts and offers you can find there.
Choices in Ein-Sokhna are pretty much limited !!

LOL i am chilled like a freezer in errrr…. a freezing place.1-2pm is called lunch time. Exactly what you said, my dear. It’s called a late breakfast. Not these silly made up words. I’d just feel embarrassed saying “brunch” in front of friends or family 🙂